Carlo Calenda, the country’s economic development minister, told Bloomberg TV: ‘His idea is ‘We want to have access to the common market without giving you access in terms of free circulation of people’, and I think this is wishful thinking.

‘His answer was ‘OK, but you are selling a lot of what we call prosecco in the UK .. and you will allow us to do this because you don’t want to lose prosecco exports’.

‘I said ‘Maybe we’re going to lose some prosecco, you’re going to lose some fish and chips exports. The difference is I’m going to lose (exports) to one country, you to 27′.’

He told Bloomberg: ‘Putting things on this level is a bit insulting.’

Italy wasn’t impressed by Boris’s argument (Picture: Getty)

He said BoJo’s approach to Brexit appeared to be based on ‘wishful thinking’.

And he said it was ‘unacceptable’ that there was still confusion over Britain’s strategy, almost five months after the referendum.